Tiny Little Fractures
by ribbonandbuttons
Summary: Ziva comes home early from her vacation over Christmas and Tony goes to meet her. Tony/Ziva friendship with mild hints towards Tiva. Enjoy!


_A belated Happy New Year :) _

**Tiny Little Fractures**

Ziva was annoyed. She was sitting in the backseat of a taxi cab as it wove it's way through late evening traffic back to her apartment in Washington.

She was annoyed for a number of factors.

1. Her wrist was in a ridiculous white plaster of paris cast.

2. A sharp twinge of pain shot up her arm every time she moved said wrist.

3. She wasn't sitting beside a fire, looking out onto thickly covered snow topped mountains whilst she sipped hot rum soaked beverages. No, she was sitting in the back of a slightly odd smelling taxi.

4. Her friend was not sitting beside her. Instead, he was on a plane travelling back to the sunny Miami beach where he came from, to soak up the rays over Christmas with his leg in a hefty cast that matched her own. Too upset by the whole fiasco, he decided he would rather go home and spend the holiday with family.

5. The cab driver kept giving her suspicious looks due to the large purply bruise that now adorned her face.

6. It wasn't even Christmas Day yet.

And to top it all off she had a very attractive cold which came with a very painful croaky throat and the inability to pronounce some words due to a blocked nose - which Tim had found rather funny when she had phoned him to help her book her a plane ticket yesterday. Only now it felt as if it was ten times worse.

Her cab rolled to a stop outside her apartment and she handed the obviously bored and impatient man a few bills before she stepped out into the bitter cold. She shivered and pulled her coat around her closer - she should've just followed R to Miami. The driver popped the trunk of the car and Ziva nearly groaned as she looked down at her heavy bags that she would have to awkwardly handle with her still tender wrist. All she wanted to do was sink into her bath with a few of the pain pills she had in her pocket and a bottle of wine. Not the doctor's orders but she didn't particularly care. She reached down with her free left hand but a hand suddenly shot out of nowhere and grabbed her case. Ziva swung round, her right hand, reached for her gun that was concealed under her coat, her wrist screaming out in protest.

"Cool it ninja." Tony grinned as she relaxed when she realised who it was. "I'm just here to offer a helping hand."

His face fell as soon as he saw her face, his hand coming up to touch her chin gently and tug her face into better light. "What happened?" He demanded. "Did he do - "

"No." Ziva shook her head and winced as her head cold made it's self be known. "It came with the other injury." She held up her broken wrist and Tony's eyes flicked to it. His face slipped back to it's natural state, a lazy grin forming but his eyes were still tense. Ziva's stomach twisted as she thought about how angry Tony had sounded. How protective he had been.

Ziva stared at him as he hoisted her bag over his shoulder and slammed the trunk shut. He grabbed her rucksack from her feet and with a small smile walked in the direction of her building. She frowned and followed him, realising now that he a large paper bag under his other arm.

"What are you doing here?" She asked tiredly as she slipped her key into the door. They had walked up to her floor silently. Tony snickered at the sound of her voice.

"Tim told me you were sick, but really, he didn't tell me that you sounded this pathetic." Tony laughed as he followed her into the apartment. She flicked on a light and shrugged off her coat, hanging it up beside the door. With a glare she allowed Tony to struggle with all his extra luggage by himself. He dropped her rucksack in the corner of the living room before leaving her larger bag in her bedroom and joining her in the kitchen.

"Are you going to answer me?" She asked nasally and Tony fought the urge to laugh again.

"Mc Reliable might have mentioned that you were coming home early." Tony told her as he delved into the paper bag. "And he may have said in passing that you were feeling alittle under the weather. However, he failed to tell me about the beautiful way you're accessorising lately, wrist casts are so this season."

Ziva narrowed her eyes at him and watched as with a grin, Tony produced a tub from the bag.

"Some soup for the cold." He smiled and delved into the bag again. "A little Aspirin for your head, cough drops for the throat. Merlot, well the wine's just for fun."

Ziva smirked as he produced each item with a flourish and set it on the bench. She reached for wine glasses and handed him a cork screw. He grinned at her and set to work opening the bottle of wine as she hunted her kitchen for two bowls.

"How come your friend isn't home with you?" Tony asked quietly as he poured two liberal glasses of wine, hoping he sounded casual. Ziva stirred the soup into the bowls and ignored him.

"Don't you have Christmas plans Tony?" She asked in return. Her eyes drawn to todays date on the calender - 24th.

Tony ignored her question with a slight frown and changed the subject.

"There's bread in the bag." Tony told her as he grabbed the two glasses and the bottle of wine and went into the living room. She heard him switch on the television and move about the adjacent room. Ziva peered into the bag and smiled at the contents. A carton of milk and a large baguette. Some orange juice and a box of tissues. Ziva grabbed the bread just as Tony reappeared to carry the bowls.

"Thanks." She told him and he shrugged quickly as he made his way into the living room. An old movie was playing on the tv but he had turned the volume down low until it wouldn't distract them if they started a conversation, he had also turned off the main light on the ceiling leaving the room only to be lit by the lamps in each corner of the room.

"So." Tony said slowly after they had both settled down on the couch and taken a few mouthfuls of the hot soup. "What happened your wrist?"

Ziva smiled softly. "There was a skiing accident."

"Really?" Tony asked dryly making Ziva's smile grow.

"There was a collision." She told him and blew on the spoon as it came to her lips. The soup was good and warmed her up. Plus she hadn't eaten in hours. Tony laughed at her terminology and she smiled at him fondly.

"The slopes can be a dangerous place." Tony agreed with her and Ziva felt her cheeks flush. Tony's eyes narrowed before he snorted. "Please Ziva, tell me that this happened when you were actually skiing."

"If you insist I'll tell you that." Ziva smiled coyly. Tony looked at her face and suddenly felt his stomach drop.

"Oh no, maybe I don't want to know." Tony murmured and finished his bowl of soup before setting it on the coffee table. "This better not be an injury of a sexual nature."

Ziva nearly choked on the hot soothing liquid and shook her head as she coughed.

"No." She laughed and her stomach flipped as she saw that Tony was relieved. "It was a patch of black ice, nothing could help it. It wasn't even my fault, Ro-" Her eyes flicked up to Tony and saw that he tensed as she began to say his name but she quickly changed her mind. "There was a group of us walking and one slipped and stupidly decided to grab on to me for support. And then I was on the ground."

"I would've thought with your cat like reflexes you would've been fine." Tony commented and Ziva smiled.

"I was fine until someone landed on top of my arm." Ziva told him sweetly and Tony winced. "They have a fracture clinic near by and they said I'd have to keep this on for 6 weeks."

"You'll be on desk duty." Tony interrupted her. He looked disappointed.

"But I think I'll be able to convince someone in Bethesda to take the cast off tomorrow." Ziva continued.

Tony snorted. "I'm sure you would Ziva." He took a sip of his wine and then rolled his eyes. "Tomorrow's Christmas anyway."

She shrugged and Tony grinned at her, his teeth flashing.

"I do not want to have to complete another test at the firing range. What Vance doesn't know won't hurt him." Ziva plotted.

"Gibbs will know." Tony warned her, he poked her with his sock covered toe and she pressed her shin against his foot in response.

"Gibbs is just as eager to break the rules as I am." Ziva snorted before coughing.

"That's true." Tony agreed and topped up her wine glass. She smirked at him.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" She asked him lightly.

"Not at all Miss David." Tony grinned at her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as she sipped wine slowly. "Just an attempt to make you feel better."

Ziva smiled to herself as they watched the old movie draw to a conclusion on the TV. Somewhere in her apartment a chime rang out that told her it was midnight.

"Merry Christmas Tony." Ziva whispered quietly. Tony pressed his lips to her hair and squeezed her tightly in response.


End file.
